Feeding Urges
by 2olluxampora
Summary: Sollux is a new vampire living with his human boyfriend, Eridan. They need to keep better tabs on how much blood is left in the fridge.


Eridan was always told stories about vampires as a child. Cautionary tales more than entertainment, they warned of how vampires were vicious creatures who wanted nothing more than to take humans as living blood banks for their own uses. They weren't humans themselves, of course. Not to most people. Dehumanizing them made them easier to hate, Eridan supposed. And he couldn't blame them. He used to feel the same way.

When he met Sollux, everything changed. It was their junior year in high school, and the other boy had been new to the elite private school Eridan had attended since freshman year. At first, they hadn't even been able to exchange a few words without getting into an argument, but eventually they became friends. By senior year they were dating.

Vampirism was infectious, but it could also be genetic. Those with the gene generally grew up as a normal human until puberty or just after, when they'd undergo a metamorphosis of sorts. Then they'd be a full-fledged vampire, just like any other. This was the type Sollux was. When they met, he'd still been fully human. It was a whole year of knowing each other until he even told him.

Eridan could still remember that moment. How scared his boyfriend had been of telling him, and how they hadn't talked for two full days afterwards because of the Aquarius' stupid outburst...

Now, they were freshmen in college, and it was midway through Sollux's third week of being a symptomatic vampire, as opposed to the human Eridan had met in high school. The first two weeks had been awful, and Eridan could hardly stand seeing his boyfriend in so much pain throughout the transformation...

After class, he returned home to their shared apartment, entering their dark bedroom. Sollux's eyes were still incredibly photosensitive, so he'd had to go out and buy blackout curtains for him, which were constantly closed.

"Hey Sol," Eridan murmured hesitantly, feeling his way over to the bed to sit beside him. Sollux was snuggled under the covers due to his lack of body heat, and even in the dark room, Eridan could see how miserable he still looked, new fangs visible. He always thought that being so up close and personal with a real vampire would be terrifying. Especially one who was hungry pretty much all of the time, requiring the mini-fridge in their room to be constantly stocked with bagged blood.

"Hey..." Sollux sounded very tired, and wasted no time in pressing up against the other. "I missed you." The fangs made his lisp even more obvious, and Eridan hugged him closer, letting him rest his head on his chest. He'd forgotten that even through his sweater, the vampire could hear his heartbeat. But he'd probably just eaten, right?

"Missed you too. Everyone was asking about you, saying they can't wait until you can be out and about again."

"Mm.." Sollux merely nuzzled into his chest, eyes closing.

A few minutes passed before anything else was said. Eridan noticed his boyfriend shifting around a bit, but thought nothing of it. He must still be achy, he thought. That would've been the easy explanation though, and nothing could ever be truly easy for them.

"Um...ED?" Sollux sounded hesitant, voice fainter than usual. "I think we might have a problem...Fuck, fuck, I'm so stupid." Now, Eridan was really worried, since Sollux practically sounded like he was about to cry. "But you were at class, and I didn't think it would be a big deal..." Now he was pulling away, and even with his own poor night vision, Eridan could see his lower lip trembling, fangs pressing into it.

"We're out of blood. I drank the last bag a couple of hours ago but I thought I'd be f-fine..." Oh, shit, now there really were tears spilling down the Gemini's cheeks. What could he do?

Eridan started by gently wiping the tears away with the pad of his thumb. With Sollux this desperate, there was no time for a stop at the blood bank...They only had one choice. Vampires instinctively knew not to drink too much blood, and their saliva allowed wounds to close quickly, so they never killed humans they drank from directly unless they were trying to. All the same, this was a scary thing to think about.

"Hey, Sol, it's alright. I can stop and get more later. For now, you can just use me to tide you over." He started unwrapping his striped scarf from around his neck as he spoke, sitting up. His hands were shaking with nervousness, but he trusted Sollux. The vampire would never intentionally hurt him.

"Are you sure? Because I can probably just wait, maybe, I don't wanna hurt you..."

Eridan shook his head, refusing to argue on this point. "I trust you. Do it."

Nodding hesitantly, Sollux sat up as well, covers falling down around his waist as he anxiously ran his fingers through his messy hair. Seemingly unable to resist, he moved onto Eridan's lap before pressing his lips to his neck, giving him a few shaky kisses there. Forcing himself to relax, Eridan wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, making sure he had good access to his neck.

When the sharp fangs sank into his skin, it hurt, but not nearly as much as he'd been expecting. Once the initial sharp pang had passed, it was mostly just warm and odd feeling, Sollux's lips pressed to his neck and arms wrapped tightly around his waist. When he really focused, he could feel the blood leaving his body, but that was more gross than anything, so he tried to ignore it.

After a long few minutes, Sollux pulled away, looking a little dazed. There was a little smudge of blood on his lower lip. Rationally, that should be off-putting, even scary. Seeing your own blood on someone's lip like that, a reminder that they drank a fair bit of it...Why was it cute? Eridan gently wiped it away, smiling tiredly at him. How much exactly had he taken?

"T-thanks...Sorry I had to do that, I really didn't know we'd gotten that low." Sollux was downright sheepish, a rare sight. "But it was good. Way different from drinking it out of a bag. I didn't hurt you, did I?"

A quick touch confirmed that the tiny, twin holes were already scabbing over. Perfect. "No, you didn't hurt me. Felt a little weird, but I wouldn't mind lettin' you do it again sometime." He smiled slightly at him. Now that his eyes were adjusted to the dark, he could see how sleepy Sollux looked now. Feeding really did tire him out.

"Good...not too often though. You need time to recover. Take some iron supplements or some shit, okay?" With that, Sollux got off of Eridan's lap and laid down again.

Eridan smiled fondly at him and nodded, taking off his glasses and setting them on the nightstand before getting under the covers with him, still fully dressed. A short nap wouldn't hurt, since fresh blood kept vampires satisfied longer than the bagged stuff. Besides, they hadn't been able to cuddle in quite awhile.

As far as Eridan Ampora was concerned, vampires were just as human as anyone else.


End file.
